Not the End
by RogueWitch
Summary: Hermoine finds the world changed as she comes back from the past, her mission 'Change History.'
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay people, a new story. I know I suck at getting these things finished, so I would love a beta who would kick my ass a bit to get this one (and maybe some of my other stories) finished! PM me if you're interested.

It was all this stupid wars fault, Hermione thought as she placed her hand on her slightly swollen belly. If it hadn't been her unending desire to change the course of wizarding history, she wouldn't be in this situation. She remembered all too clearly how it began, either eight months ago, or an hour, depending on your perspective; or twenty years, if you were the man sitting across the desk from her, conflicting emotions tumbling across his usually emotionless features. Then again, a lot had changed since she watched him die in the Shrieking Shack. For one, he was alive, and two, his sleeves were rolled up and there was no mark on his forearm. More to the point, the castle wasn't on fire, so her trip had done its job.

"I didn't think I'd ever see you again," the sullen man said, finally, his hands steepled on the desk top.

"I didn't think I would see you either," Hermione said to her hands, still clasped over her stomach. "But to be fair, we both saw each other earlier today."

"No, my dear," Severus said quietly. "You saw your seventeen year old lover, and I saw my seventeen year old student. I haven't seen you in twenty years." Pain flashed across his face, and then it was blank again. "You accepted my proposal and the next thing I knew, all that was left was this note," he pulled a very worn piece of parchment out of his desk. "And a pensive full of very disturbing memories."

"I didn't want to leave that way, but there wasn't another option." A tear slipped down her face, things had been so perfect, she should have known it couldn't last.

"And then, six years ago a little girl with big bushy hair shows up in my classroom, and I knew it was all true." He sighed and pulled out a bottle of Firewhiskey and poured himself a glass. "I waited all year for you to turn those eyes to me, to tell me you had come back, but she was just my student, it was torture, and now here you are and I don't know what happens now."

"What happens now is whatever we want." She twisted the ring round her finger. "I'll understand if you want this back, too much time has passed."

"You don't know me anymore," Severus said. "I would like to think I'm not the man in your memories, but nor am I the boy you knew, I'm an old man now."

"Oh please, Severus," Hermione rolled her eyes at the self-deprecating man. "You may be older that I am, but you are certainly not an old man." Hermione smiled into her lap. "And you are most certainly not the dungeon bat I knew."

Severus chuckled, "no, I am not." His face changed and grew sad. "I have had a very different life then he did. I had to; I had a fiancée and child I had to be here for. I had to become the kind of man who she would want to raise our child with."

"From what I've seen, you've done well," Hermione smiled.

"I can't say that I'm a favorite among the staff. My temper hasn't much improved, and I expect a great deal from my students, most of who do not live up to my expectations."

"Do I?" Hermione asked, not sure if she really wanted an answer.

"You are not the girl I taught today," Severus said firmly. "For the last five months I've had torturous watched as the woman who shared my lovers face fell in love with that insufferable Weasley boy, I've watched as she fawned all over him in my classroom, and caught them more than once in the Astronomy Tower." Severus thumped his fists on his desk, upsetting an ink bottle that crashed to the floor. "By the way, you have detention with me every night for the rest of the school year."

"I understand," Hermione said, trying to keep her amusement at his temper to herself. "I suppose I'll have to break up with Ron for her, then. Wouldn't want him thinking this baby is his."

"And how are you going to explain that you are four months pregnant and it's not your supposed boyfriends?" Severus raised an eyebrow at the amused girl.

"Don't know, that's a problem isn't it?" Her lips curled into a sinister smile. "I guess you would get sacked if I said we had been having a torrid affair."

"It would be true," Severus pointed out. "It just happened twenty years ago."

"Yep, longest pregnancy ever," Hermione relaxed and leaned back in her chair. "But seriously, we have to think of something to tell people, I have two months left of school, and I'm only going to get bigger. The only people outside of the two of us who know what happened are McGonagall and Dumbledore, mostly because I scared the pieces out of them when I appeared in the Headmaster's office in my nighty."

"The green one?" He asked.

"I didn't exactly have time to change," Hermione said sadly.

"I've missed you."

"I'm sorry this all happened like this," she told him quietly. "I didn't know how long I had. I was half hoping I would have a chance to have this one before I left, so I didn't leave you all alone."

"It's better this way," Severus said, still watching her from across the desk. "This way she will be raised by both of her parents."

"Still pushing for a girl," Hermione said, shaking her head. "Do you really mean it?"

"Yes, I've always imagined I would be a much better father to a girl." Severus smirked.

"No, that she would be raised by both of us?"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Bonus chapter for the day. Let me know what you think!

The Battle of Hogwarts

Covered in dirt and blood a bereaved Hermione made her way up the Headmaster's office, looking for a bit of peace from the carnage and celebration. The Dark Lord was dead, but so were many friends and allies.

She sat in what had once been her mentor's office and cried.

"It doesn't have to end like this," a voice came from high up on the wall.

Hermione scrubbed the tears from her eyes and looked up at the portrait of Professor Dumbledore. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, if you set the right wheels in motion, you could keep it from ending this way," Dumbledore said. "Take to box out of the bottom drawer of my desk. It was my contingency plan with Professor Snape. Read it, and choose."

She pulled the dark wooden box out of the bottom drawer; it had the Hogwarts Crest on the top. She gently lifted the lid and pulled out the top sheet of paper and read.

'To whom it my concern,' it said in Snape's spikey scrawl. 'If you are reading this then Dumbledore has entrusted you with a great secret, and a terrible mission, but he deems it necessary. You must take the potion in the bottom of this box and change history. Take the second sheet with you; it will reveal the entire mission once you are twenty years in the past. Only Dumbledore can know what you are doing. No one else. Good Luck.'

Hermione pulled the potion bottle out of the bottom of the box and pocketed the second piece of parchment. Dumbledore was right, this shouldn't be the end. She uncorked the bottle and chugged the silvery green liquid. She clutched her stomach as pain ripped through her body, and as suddenly as it was there, it was gone and she was standing right where she had been, but with a very shocked Professor Dumbledore looking at her, sun streaming through the office windows.

"Well," Dumbledore said, looking over the disheveled girl. "How can I help you, my dear?"

Hermione pulled the parchment out of her pocket as the first instruction was revealing itself. 'Tell Dumbledore the truth.' She placed the potion bottle on his desk and looked at the man she had lost a year before. She sunk down into one of the wingbacks in front of his desk and took a deep breath. "You may want to have a seat, Sir," She said. "It's a long story, and I don't even know all of it." She told him what she knew about the first war, about the Potters and Sirius, Remus, Pettigrew, and Snape. She outlined the next eleven years, and then told the story of Harry Potter, the boy who lived, right up to the end of the Battle of Hogwarts and Snape's final moments in the Shrieking Shack. The sun had long since set when she finished with the potion in the wooden box.

"And the parchment, what does it say now?" Dumbledore asked when she finished.

"When I first got here all it said was 'Tell Dumbledore the truth.' Now it says 'Get sorted into Gryffindor.' So it looks like I'll be staying for a while."

"My guess, Ms. Granger, is that you will get instructions as the mission progresses. It is quite an ingenious invention, one of a kind, at least it was." He pulled another parchment from his desk and sparks spiked as the two got close. "So it is mine, very good." Dumbledore pulled the Sorting Hat off the shelf. "Students don't arrive until tomorrow, but I see no harm in getting this out of the way now."

"But you already know where I'm to be sorted," she wasn't at all interested in that hat digging around in her brain again. Once was enough, thank you very much.

"It's not me you must convince, my dear girl, but the Hat," Dumbledore said, coming around the desk. "If I was to simply put you in Gryffindor, the parchment would have said so. Instead it instructed you to be sorted."

He placed the Hat on her head, and she could feel it riffling around in her brain. "Well, it's not often I get a glimpse into an older mind. Yours in much more complex, but I know where you belong. Very few would embark on a mission such as this, with so many unknowns. It takes the heart of a lion to look into such darkness and still see light. You are truly meant to be in Gryffindor."

"Well, Ms. Granger, I will have your things sent up to Gryffindor tower. In the meantime, it would be a good idea if you came up with an identity for yourself." She checked the parchment, but it had no instructions for her. "You mustn't expect it to give you all the answers, my dear. You were chosen for a reason, don't forget that." Dumbledore disappeared through a door, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

A/N2: Suggestions for names and background are welcome! Review or PM me.


	3. Chapter 3

Hermione watched as the Headmaster disappeared through a door, presumably to arrange for clothes and books for her. She looked down at the parchment that still had only two lines on it, and sat frustrated.

"Not even a hint?" she asked the parchment. No answer was forth coming, but then she hadn't really been expecting one. "Well, I'm in Gryffindor, so blood doesn't matter." Hermione said to the empty office. "But, it's the dawn of the first war, and I don't know my mission as of yet, so I should probably hedge my bets."

"My thoughts exactly," the eccentric wizard came sweeping back into the office, his purple robes twinkling lightly in the morning sun. "It's most convenient for you to have no relations, and it just so happens a very old wizarding family came to an abrupt end when their only daughter married a muggle about twenty years ago, and hasn't been heard from since. So, I think it best if you choose to be Hermione Gardner. It shouldn't be too hard, the girl was of the Pratchett line, which sadly, is no more."

"And my parents are both dead?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, my dear," Dumbledore confirmed. "I believe it was a car accident, though it is not clear."

"And where have I been at school, up until now?" Hermione knew that it would be all too easy for anyone to check in the European schools, to see if she had attended. "Perhaps the Salem Academy in America."

"That is a good choice, my dear." Dumbledore sat back behind his desk. "I presume you know how to get to Gryffindor Tower?"

"Yes, sir," Hermione collected her potion bottle and parchment back into the box.

"Good," Dumbledore twinkled. "The password is 'Argyle Socks.'" He handed her a list of books. "You'll want to borrow these from the library until we can arrange for you to get a set of your own. Welcome," he said. "To Hogwarts, Ms. Gardener."

At this dismissal, Hermione made her way from the Headmaster's office down to the library. The castle hadn't changed a bit since her time there, twenty years in the future, other than the damage done by the battle, which would never happen, if she was successful. Even Ms. Pince hadn't changed. The librarian looked over Hermione's list with a quizzical eye, before sending Hermione off to gather her books.

Before returning to the desk to check out, she stopped and checked the parchment, just in case. 'Check out Miranda Mallody's Malicious Molds and Fungus.' It said, just under her sorting instructions.

Hermione made a trip to the herbology section, and picked up the recommended book, which itself seemed to be covered in a furry green mold, and then grabbed the latest addition of Hogwarts: A History, just for comparison sake, and went to check out.

Ms. Pince made a disgruntled face at Hermione's little lot, but checked the books out and dismissed Hermione without a word.

The Fat Lady hardly gave her a glance; she figured Dumbledore had warned the Gryffindor gatekeeper of her arrival.

The common room was exactly how she remembered it, save the noise level, and she dropped her books on one of the tables, and finally took in her own appearance. She was caked in dirt and soot and blood; no wonder Pince had looked at her funny. She contemplated trying to figure out the password to the Prefect's bathroom, but decided that standing on a hot shower just sounded like a good idea.

Hermione stood under the hot water and let herself relax for the first time in what had to be a year. She watched as the battle was washed from her body, then took a good look at the clothes she had been wearing, or what was left of them, and let them lay were they were, intent on throwing the lot out as soon as she had a chance, and went to sit by the fire in the seventh year girls dorm, in a bathrobe she found hanging on the back of the door.

Hermione pulled the books out of her back and paged through the contents. It was all familiar to her, since she had done her best to keep up on her reading while they were searching for the Horocuxes. The only book she didn't know was Malicious Molds and Fungus. Hermione neatly stacked the rest of her book on her bedside table and flipped through the Herbology book slowly to see if anything jumped out at her. More than two thirds of the way through the text a meticulously folded piece of parchment fell into her lap. She gently unfolded it, and then folded it again before taking her want to the parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," for a moment nothing happened, and Hermione started to chuckle at her silliness, of course the Marauders wouldn't leave their precious map stuck in a book in the library over the summer; but then lines started appearing and Hermione could see the little Dumbledore label making its way down to the Great Hall. Her face broke out in a grin. "Fantastic," she said, before uttering a hasty 'Mischief managed' and tucked the map into her box. "This will be a great advantage." She then settled down for a day of reading about mold, just in case.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hello my lovely readers. Here is the latest installment of Not the End. My goal is to update once a week, I am relying on you all to keep me to that. Please don't forget to review the latest chapter; it gives me fuel to keep writing!

Dumbledore gave Hermione permission to go into Hogsmead the following day, in order to pick up essentials; so armed with the piece of parchment, a pocket full of gallons, and a list, Hermione went to tackle the small wizarding town. She picked up some good quills and a few different colors of ink, for taking notes. She stopped into the bookshop and picked up a few out of print books that she had been wanting, but hadn't been able to find in her own time. She picked up some essential clothing, that Dumbledore hadn't had on hand, and on a whim she ducked into the pet store. She missed Crookshanks a great deal, but knew that he was safe and happy with the Weasleys. The tiny shop was warm and dark, hooting came from above, and the soft but bracing smell of animal permeated the entire place, and did a great deal to relax Hermione.

She went up and down the aisles looking at all the potential familiars, telling herself she shouldn't get one, she didn't know how long she would be in the past, and as such, shouldn't take responsibility for a life, if she didn't know how long she would be around to care for it. But when she saw the tiny black kitten, tucked up in a corner away from all of the other cats, its tiny sad eyes watching her, she knew she had to give it a home. She would just have to convince Dumbledore to keep it after she left.

Hermione checked the parchment, just in case it had any objections, before calling over the shop girl.

"Are you sure?" the shop girl asked, pulling the tiny cat from its hiding place. "He's very small; he probably won't make a very good familiar."

"I'm sure," Hermione glared at the rude girl. "A very wise man once told me that the best things come in the smallest packages." Her father had told her that often.

"Well, I'll be happy to get rid of him," the shop girl told Hermione, oblivious to the other girls annoyance. "It's next to impossible to get rid of the runts."

Hermione did her best not to glare at the stupid girl, instead she gave her, her best 'bite me' smile, bought the kitten and some pet essentials, and left the shop.

Hermione settle herself into the seventh year girls' dorm, letting her new familiar 'Max' survey his new domain. She checked her watch and the parchment, which still only had three instructions; and settled in for an afternoon of reading, before the Welcome Feast.

She tried not to think too hard about who she would be sharing her dorm, though it being seventh year, Lily and James would be in the head girls and boys rooms, Professor Lupin and Sirius Black would both be haunting Gryffindor Tower, and so would Peter Pettigrew, whom Hermione would rather steer clear of. Also, given her schedule, she would be sharing Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Herbology with the Slytherins; i.e. Professor Snape, Bellatrix Black, and Narcissa Black. She gave an involuntary shudder as Bellatix name crossed her mind. It was going to be difficult not to react around the girl.

Hermione placed her Potions book down on her bedside table when she heard the Hogwarts Express coming into the station. She pulled her hair up into a messy bun and made her way down to the Great Hall.

Dumbledore stood behind his podium, just as he had every year Hermione had come to the Opening Feast, the Sorting Hat on the stool beside him, silent and still.

"Ah, good evening Ms. Gardener," Dumbledore addressed her. "Please take a set, the rest of the school should be along shortly."

"Good evening, Professor," Hermione smiled at the Headmaster and settled herself at the Gryffindor table, closest to the Head table. She watched as the students filed into the Great Hall, filling the large room with laughter and shouts of hello. Hermione couldn't help but feel left out, feeling the emptiness that Harry and Ron had always filled. For the first time since she had started on her mission, she realized how truly alone she was, and couldn't help the few tears that pricked at the corners of her eyes.

A pretty red head plopped herself down next to Hermione, followed by a ructions group of boys. At first Hermione didn't look up from the book she was thumbing through, resigned to be alone, at least for the time being, but a hand entered her field of vision.

"Hi," the red head said her bright smile infections. "I'm Lily. Professor McGonagall told me we had anew seventh year in Gryffindor."

Hermione took in the site of her best friend's mother, a very pretty red head with Harry's tell-tale green eyes, and a wide smile. Hermione instantly liked the girl, whether it was because of whom she was, or the aura the girl exuded, she wasn't sure. She shook the other girl's hand, her smile widening. "I'm Hermione."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Well, my lovely readers, here is a bonus chapter for this week, since I'm stuck at home with the flu. Please review!

After dinner, Lily offered to show Hermione around the castle, which was completely unnecessary, but Hermione was thrilled to let the Head Girl. A quick look at the parchment gave her an even better reason to spend time with her best friend's mother, 'Get close to Lily Evens.' That seemed easy enough, the girl was quiet friendly towards Hermione, and had already offered to show her around Hogsmead at the next free weekend. Hermione quickly learned that for students fourth year and above, all weekends were free, barring those who were Prefects and the like, who were scheduled on alternating weekends to look after the lower years. This seemed to Hermione to be a completely excellent idea, giving the teachers time off on the weekend to attend to other things. She assumed that the first war had put a stop to the practice.

As Lily took her up and down corridors, she chatted about Hogwarts, their professors; of whom McGonagall was her favorite, classes, her friends, and her boyfriend, James.

"He and his friends are a bit Quidditch mad, but then, I have hardly met a boy that isn't," Lily was saying as they walked down towards the Potions classroom and the Dungeons. "He's the Gryffindor seeker, and he's quite food. We were Quidditch Cup Champions, unfortunately we lost two last year, and there's no telling what that will do to the team."

"Looks like it will be a Slytherin year," a growling voice came from around a dark corner, as they descended into the dungeons. "Filling your newest recruit with lies already?"

"Severus," Lily said in a dark voice, clearly displeased with seeing him. "You would do well to leave us be."

"If you are so repelled by my presence, perhaps it is you who should leave," the dark boy crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, glaring at the Head Girl.

"Maybe I can take you down to the potions corridor another time," Lily said, taking hold of Hermione's arm and giving a disturbed glance at Snape over her shoulder.

"I don't see why we should let a little snark keep us from our agenda," Hermione said, quietly to Lily, as the red head lead her back up the stairs. They could both hear Snape chuckling from his place against the wall.

"Severus Snape is a lot more than just a little snark," Lily said, striding down the hall head of Hermione, forcing her to job in order to catch up with the Head Girl. "He's a mean bastard, and I wager as violent as his father was." Lily turned and looked at Hermione, stopping abruptly in the middle of the Front Hall. "Once upon a time, Severus and I were friends. We grew up down the road from each other, and went to primary school together." Lily said, clearly missing those days. "Things changed when we got to Hogwarts. We were sorted into different houses, and his new friends weren't very nice to those of us who were Muggle born." Lily sat down on one of the steps, and Hermione joined her. "With the discovery that Severus was a wizard, his father became increasingly abusive to both him and his mother." The red head sighed. "I'm sure that did a lot to color his ideas about muggles, and it put further strain on our friendship. We had some pretty public fights, which weren't helped on either side by our house mates. You'll learn pretty fast that there is no love lost between James and Severus."

Hermione knew how it ended, though Lily didn't say. Harry had told her about the incident which ends with Snape's knickers showing and him calling Lily a Mudblood. She didn't see that as any reason to run away from the boy, he was only seventeen, how bad could he be, and on top of it, Hermione knew Snape. He was an evil bastard most of the time, but his bark was much worse than his bite, plus he turned spy because of his love for this girl. She shook her head and turned to the girl who was gathering herself together, and started up the stairs ahead of Hermione. She waited for the girl to go a little head of her, before she checked the parchment. It now said: 'Befriend Severus Snape.' She shoved the parchment back into her pocket, vowing to find a more covert way to read her mission instructions, and took the steps two at a time to catch up with Lily.

As Hermione lay in bed that night, Max a warm weight beside her, she went over her mission, or at least the bits she was yet to accomplish. She thought over what Dumbledore had said about paying attention to how things were worded. The Parchment had instructed her to 'Get close to Lily' which struck her as very Slytherin wording; they tended to have acquaintances and allies, as opposed to friends. The best way to get close to a Gryffindor was to become friends. Which she was sure the Parchment, or whoever was, or had, supplied it with the instructions, knew. It had also told her to 'Befriend Severus' which bewildered her, it was such a Gryffindor concept, but she supposed, upon further thought, that it made since. Snape had played a vital role, albeit from the wrong side, during the first war; if Hermione could persuade his allegiances before he left school, maybe she could get him to ally with the Order of the Phoenix, robbing Voldemort of his change to hear the prophecy, and change the tide of war. The best and only way, as far as Hermione could see, to sway Snape, was to gain his trust, which she would do by becoming his friend. Now how to accomplish that was for another day.

Hermione gently petted Max, who purred so loudly she was half worried he would wake the other girls, and then snuggled down further under the covers.


End file.
